Posts Tagged ‘rural development’

We’ve been out of India since the last two years, and our centres are being guided by a very learned and good friend (Anuradha Bawa Singh), who is also the present Managing trustee, the women-in-charges of each section have been made a ‘Trustee‘ and have been entrusted with the responsibility of managing their respective sections and to take decisions collectively for the over-all running of the Trust. Everything is running well (though there may have been minor hiccups) and we do get to talk to them often …. but what we really missed was seeing their activities and the changes that were taking place.

So…. I was positively ‘thrilled‘ to know that our simple village girls had mastered the knack of digital photography (though connectivity is still a problem and quite expensive).. and after a long time got some fresh photographs of our projects in Kangra and Chamba.

Our Trustees (who are also the ‘incharge’ of their sections) in Dalhousie and are managing the Centres and Libraries

‘Rekha’ the teacher of ‘Talai Village Centre’ awarding the passing out certificates to the batch of 2013-14

‘Vandana’ the teacher incharge of ‘Bathri centre’ as well as the manager of the Bathri unit, presenting the Certificates to her batch.

‘Naddi’ Centre batch of 2013-14 after the passing out

‘Gayatri’ the incharge of ‘Naddi and Ghera’ village centres presenting passing out certificates

Only the girls who get more than 50% marks are deemed passed and awarded the certificates

The students who get more than 80% marks are awarded a Sewing machine

The one who comes 2nd, gets a full kit of tailoring material

There’s a lot of dancing and joy at the ‘Graduation party’ party… which involves local songs and dancing

… a lot of fun and laughter too…

a little ‘party’… some local sweets… some snacks… a cup of tea… it’s enough to enjoy…

In the monsoons there are very less girls who come to the centre in ‘Ghera’ village

The first three from left are ‘Reena’ our Junior teacher, ‘Gayatri’, the Senior teacher and ‘Somna’, the language and library incharge. It is now monsoon season in the hills, not many want to come to the centre… it can be dangerous to reach here…

The state of this tiny rivulet changes into a gushing wild river during the monsoon period (as seen behind Gayatri)

… the girls have to cross this kind of a bridge to reach the centre, which is why we declare a two month break during this season

This year we started a new Center at ‘Bathri’. A village on the main highway to Chamba. The response from the students was fantastic and all of them came eagerly to paint, clean and set up the place.

One of the foremost objectives of our Tailoring school curriculum (which has been specially developed by us) is that the girls come there for learning…. and learning is what they would get…..

In spite of all the griping from the students.. who find their marks cut for spelling mistakes (which their Government school teachers did not do), at the end of their course they learn to read and write properly, draw neater diagrams and most of all KNOW stitching….

After the success of the first batch of the ‘Talai’ Center tailoring school, there was no lack of students for the second batch in 2011…

Naddi Taloring school batch 2011, on a visit to Dalhousie.. to see how things were managed in our centers and to interact with their counterparts in this part of the Himalayas..

This year on Gandhi Jayanti a fair was organised in Dalhousie in the Church grounds… the women from our centers put up the Jams (from the Jam Project) and Shopping bags (from the tailoring schools) for sale.

The shopping bags made in our tailoring school were appreciated a lot by all visitors at our stall in these fairs, the design and fabric was tastefully chosen as well as the stitching was of professional quality…

Participation in fairs was a very important step… It led the girls 1. To face the world outside their villages 2. Realize the appreciation of their work. 3. See hoe other people manage in the same circumstances as them.

The popular demand of the shopping bags in the ‘Gandhi Jayanti Fair was added fuel for the girls to work hard and make more of these beautiful bags for the Red Cross Fair held in November….. A good start…

In 2011 the Jam making centre has been operated totally by the women on their own…. and we are proud that they have come out with flying colours…

Learning financial account-keeping, inventory control and monetary management to manage their center has been the thrust this year….

Each department has worked this year to become self-dependent… whether it is Anita: accounts (the first woman)… or Rashmi: Library management (the second one)… Vandana and Rekha: the tailoring school teachers sitting on the farthest end)… They HAVE to learn to manage their own activities and make it grow and also imbibe this feeling in others, if this project has to spread from village to village…

The library has always been a good place for the children… They can draw/paint, read, learn with ‘Rashmi’ (their teacher and guide), make greeting cards, learn ‘Origami’ and play all sort of games…

It is wrong to say that the children are totally under the influence of TV… It all depends on how we guide them and spend time with them. The ‘Story’ hour is the most fascinating time for them… not only because they hear interesting stories… but because they are read to them as any story-teller should read…. The lions roar, the angry man shouts and the expressions of the characters is portrayed in their imaginations. Unfortunately… more and more we find that there is very less quality time spent upon reading… and this is what we do…

A library does not mean only books…!! Whether young or old… all the children are very enthusiastic when it comes to creative crafts. They just need a little help… Every year during Rakhi they all come to make the Rakhi’s themselves.. even though they can easily afford to buy from the market….. This is MORE FUN….

The excitement in the end was the comparing of each other’s handiwork…. and wanting to make more…. we had to put a stop… since we were running out of raw material… they always look forward to it the next year…